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A Portland lawmaker fired a top aide who took in a homeless woman with mental health issues only to throw her back on the streets days later with a beach umbrella and little else. Portland city councilmember Jamie Dunphy sacked Amani Kelekele, 35, Tuesday after allegations surfaced that his former chief of staff had dumped a homeless woman at a state park, The Oregonian reported. Kelekele had served as a chief of staff since the Democratic councilor took office, which paid him an annual salary of $131,000. Prior to the job, Kelekele had a few run-ins with the law - including convictions of harassment and burglary in 2013 and 2014, through the burglary conviction was expunged in 2021 by then-Democratic governor Kate Brown. 'Amani brought real passion to his work and a deep commitment to helping others,' Dunphy wrote in an email to colleagues, according to The Oregonian. 'That said, choices were made that do not align with how we strive to serve our community and uphold the trust placed in us by our constituents.' Kelekele wrote in a memo that he received a call from the woman on September 17 asking for help. It remains unclear how she obtained his number. Three days later, she allegedly again called Kelekele repeatedly in the middle of the night, claiming that her life was in danger. Kelekele met the woman, who has not been named, near the public library in Milwaukie, Oregon, which was also close to his home. The woman, who was wheelchair-bound and had an emotional support Pit Bull dog, allegedly claimed to have autism, neurological damage, Broca's Aphasia and a history of violent interactions with police. She also alleged that police planned to arrest her. Kelekele wrote that an officer confirmed this to him, but law enforcement later told The Oregonian that her arrest was not imminent. Rather, outreach workers had been trying to help the woman for more than one week. Kelekele decided to take the woman in, but allegedly waited the entire weekend to find her help. It reportedly took until September 22 for Kelekele to tell Dunphy he was housing a homeless woman and was trying to find her a new place to stay. Kelekele wrote: 'I informed my office of the situation and let them know that I could not leave because of the situation.' Dunphy said he offered help, which Kelekele rebuffed. The situation soon turned dire. Kelekele wrote that the woman started behaving with 'extreme hostility' when Adult Protective Services case workers attempted to intervene. He also claimed the woman began crying after he gave her a list of social housing options. 'She feared they would beat her up and mistreat her and that she did NOT want to go to any of those places,' Kelekele alleged, per The Oregonian. He sent away the case workers but told the woman she could not stay at his home. However, Kelekele was unable to find a solution, he wrote, as the woman did not have a form of ID. 'The only option remaining was to find her a place to camp [legally],' he claimed. Kelekele then allegedly drove the woman to Milo McIver State Park on September 25, leaving her at an empty, reserved campsite with only blankets, a beach umbrella and grocery bags. He claimed he was going to check on her, but that a protective services caseworker told him to stop contacting the woman. She reportedly texted him 'HELP' after being abandoned at the park. Staff found the woman and her 'heavily emaciated, limping' dog less than 36 hours later, noting that she was 'handicapped.' She began to 'bear hug' her dog while resisting arrest, which caused an officer to tase her in the back. As the woman was cuffed, her dog bit an officer, broke free and ran away. The woman was later taken to Willamette Falls Medical Center for a mental health evaluation. Kelekele had allegedly left his name and contact information on a reservation he had made for the woman, which started on September 28 - just days before he dropped her off. A park employee reported that Kelekele 'just dropped her off here days early with a bunch of groceries and her dog with no transportation or known plan,' per The Oregonian. The Daily Mail reached out to Kelekele and Dunphy for comment. Last year, Dunphy said his former aide had fought 'his way back from the bottom' after spending time in prison for breaking the law in 2013 and 2014. 'He ended up homeless and addicted to drugs after he aged out of foster care,' Dunphy told Willamette Week. 'He ended up making some really bad life choices.' The Portland lawmaker defended his decision to hire Kelekele then. Dunphy added: 'He's had his record expunged, and if somebody in our system can't claw their way back from the very bottom to use their experience to make penance for their past choices and use their experience to inform the highest level of government, I don't know what the point of justice is.' A public social media profile for Kelekele said he was from Kinshasa and had studied at Pacific University and Concordia Portland University. Prior to working for Dunphy, he had also been a legislative assistant for Democrat state representative Alissa Keny-Guyer and the director of constituent services under the Oregon Secretary of State. As of Friday morning, Kelekele's public LinkedIn profile showed that he was no longer working for Dunphy's office.
